LazarusBoard

Joan Simmons was a middle aged woman living in one of the smaller towns surrounding Altenburg. A proud citizen of Loftegen 2, she was strolling through her favourite part of the forest near the river Ohrn, looking for mushrooms to collect and enjoying the sunny afternoon. Seeing an especially promising patch of mushrooms, she left the narrow path she had been following and turned deeper into the forest. Ten minutes later she walked into a clearing near the river. But instead of more mushrooms, her eyes fixated onto something else. An enormous metallic structure, about 40 m in length, its top covered by twigs and leaves. It had two rectangular exhaust nozzles at one end and a large glass covered dome at the front. On second look she recognised it as a cockpit of some kind. What she did not see was wings, but there seemed to be some kind of thrusters facing downward. "A spaceship!" Joan thought. But there were clearly readable letters and numbers painted on the side, "F77" they read, and cross-symbol she thought she had seen on the news lately. "Not an alien ship...but where from?". Suddenly and violently, Joan was yanked to the ground and her mouth was held shut by a gloved hand. She found herself lying on the forest floor, looking at the sky and tree crowns above...and into the camouflaged face of a soldier, who whispered "Keine Bewegung! Don't move!"

Meanwhile, Johann Jaspers was following Frau Rose with his team, Sergeant Rush following behind as an ad-hoc escort. Jaspers felt uncomfortable. The Undersecretary had been very polite, but it was clear that not agreeing to come with her might have serious repercussions. Then again maybe they got more answers at the ministry. Jaspers felt the hidden "emergency" button at his belt. If he pressed it for three seconds he'd send a distress signal to the shuttle full of special forces waiting in the nearby forest. He was determined to avoid doing this, but if they were taken into custody he might have no other choice.

At the press conference, Minister Kale had just pointed at Jan Thiele to ask the next question. Jan was from the coastal city of Blaumeisehaven, Leonism's biggest port and naval base, home to 25 million people. Like most people from the South Frisia province, he spoke with a strong accent that all Imperials stereotypically associated with seamen. "Minister Kale, the evidence you presented us with is quite compelling. But what about the men behind the scenes. Don't you think it is quite a constructed plot to have a few religious whackos attack your city with guns from a faraway foreign empire, only to provoke a conflict between Loftegen and said Imperium? Maybe the attackers really believed that they were doing it for their "god", but couldn't a foreign power be behind this after all? Some power that wants to hurt both Loftegen 2 and Leonism? Someone to whom the Order of the Light were merely useful pawns?"

Dear leader is visiting his physician for his annual head check. Everything better come back normal. And he doesn't want to hear nothing about stopping drinking again. That's what the last guy told him. Whatever happened to that guy?

"The nation's leader is normally just referred to as 'snuggle-wuggle-huggy-bear'."

...Hmmm, that wasn't exactly the look I was goin for... :|

Perchan wrote:

All hail supreme-leader huggy-wuggie

D: Hey, your nation is the one with the fuzzy wuzzy bear on the flag!

Hello

Loftegen 2 wrote:

Hello!

How are you?

As of 21/05/19 the National Council, now known as the Senate, nominated Prime Minister Drax Masraze "Maximus Senator" and overthrew the current royal family staring the Masraze Dynasty. The Imperial Republic is now an Imperial Senatorial Republic.
The Senate will be elected by the people and the Maximus Senator by the Senate.
Diplomatic relations will not be affected.

Psvyr mv mqn Znuhmn hum Hycronesia.

In the port of Fortuna, Hycronesia, imperial leonist freighters and naval ships arrive as usual. The sailors notice a different flag flying on official buildings, which creates some confusion. But trade continues as usual. The change of government does not seem to have led to violence, as there are no audible shots and explosions, no smoke over the city. Some sailors ask their local colleagues what has happened to the former royal family?

Hycronesia wrote:

The coup was rather peaceful, only 15 people were injured and 5 Imperial Guards died.
To clarify, the former royal family has been exiled from Hycronesia.

Diplomats from Leonism are divided over whether or not to grant the former royal family refuge in the Imperium. Hycronesia is Leonism's most important trading partner by far, and nobody wants to anger the new government. Relations with the royal family had been amicable so far. Understanding little of the internal struggles, it seems unwise to risk anything, so only a secret offer is made to house the royal family in the backwater protectorate of Lower leonism.

Leonism wrote:

At the press conference, Minister Kale had just pointed at Jan Thiele to ask the next question. Jan was from the coastal city of Blaumeisehaven, Leonism's biggest port and naval base, home to 25 million people. Like most people from the South Frisia province, he spoke with a strong accent that all Imperials stereotypically associated with seamen. "Minister Kale, the evidence you presented us with is quite compelling. But what about the men behind the scenes. Don't you think it is quite a constructed plot to have a few religious whackos attack your city with guns from a faraway foreign empire, only to provoke a conflict between Loftegen and said Imperium? Maybe the attackers really believed that they were doing it for their "god", but couldn't a foreign power be behind this after all? Some power that wants to hurt both Loftegen 2 and Leonism? Someone to whom the Order of the Light were merely useful pawns?"

There was a brief pause as Minister Kale considered the question. "I suppose it is possible that some other nation or group was behind the plot," he allowed. "How likely that is is another matter. I mean, we're at peace with all of our neighbors, and have no enemies in Lazarus that we are aware of. As for the Imperium of Leonism, they've just come out of a long period of isolation, and have no enemies either, as far as I know, though I may be wrong about that."

"Also, it's still early days, as we say here. The attack was less than forty-eight hours ago, and we're just now about to send people to Zolarand to investigate the backgrounds of Miss Dareth and her companions in cooperation with the Zolarandian authorities. There are many threads to follow, and we don't know where they will lead. The investigation may take many months, or years. Only time will tell."

"Now, who else has a question?" It seemed like every hand in the room went up.

Leonism wrote:

Meanwhile, Johann Jaspers was following Frau Rose with his team, Sergeant Rush following behind as an ad-hoc escort. Jaspers felt uncomfortable. The Undersecretary had been very polite, but it was clear that not agreeing to come with her might have serious repercussions. Then again maybe they got more answers at the ministry. Jaspers felt the hidden "emergency" button at his belt. If he pressed it for three seconds he'd send a distress signal to the shuttle full of special forces waiting in the nearby forest. He was determined to avoid doing this, but if they were taken into custody he might have no other choice.

Undersecretary Rose led Prefect-Commander Jaspers and his team into a very nicely appointed conference room in the Foreign Ministry. There was a table along one wall that was set with various non-alcoholic drinks (coffee, tea, sparkling water, and the like) and a variety of hors d'oeuvres.

"First of all," Undersecretary Rose said, gesturing at the table, "Please, help yourselves if you would like."

"Second," she added, pausing just a moment to consult her phone, "It has been determined that as of now, you, Präfekt-Commander Jaspers, are considered by us to be a minister plenipotentiary of the Imperium assigned to Loftegen 2, with full diplomatic immunity, which also extends to your team, or rather to your deputy ministers plenipotentiary." The last was delivered with a smile and a wink.

"Third, regarding those questions I mentioned earlier, about how you got here and so forth; before I officially ask them, I presume you have the means to contact your superiors, yes?"

At that Jaspers nodded, only slightly reluctantly; he was feeling much less worried than he had been just a few minutes ago.

"Then this is the perfect time for you to contact them and ask for instructions," Undersecretary Rose said. She headed for the door. "I'll wait outside while you do. Let me know when you're ready to talk. And whether you choose to believe me or not, I give you my word that there are no surveillance devices in this room, or trained on it from elsewhere." With that, she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

Leonism wrote:

Joan Simmons was a middle aged woman living in one of the smaller towns surrounding Altenburg. A proud citizen of Loftegen 2, she was strolling through her favourite part of the forest near the river Ohrn, looking for mushrooms to collect and enjoying the sunny afternoon. Seeing an especially promising patch of mushrooms, she left the narrow path she had been following and turned deeper into the forest. Ten minutes later she walked into a clearing near the river. But instead of more mushrooms, her eyes fixated onto something else. An enormous metallic structure, about 40 m in length, its top covered by twigs and leaves. It had two rectangular exhaust nozzles at one end and a large glass covered dome at the front. On second look she recognised it as a cockpit of some kind. What she did not see was wings, but there seemed to be some kind of thrusters facing downward. "A spaceship!" Joan thought. But there were clearly readable letters and numbers painted on the side, "F77" they read, and cross-symbol she thought she had seen on the news lately. "Not an alien ship...but where from?". Suddenly and violently, Joan was yanked to the ground and her mouth was held shut by a gloved hand. She found herself lying on the forest floor, looking at the sky and tree crowns above...and into the camouflaged face of a soldier, who whispered "Keine Bewegung! Don't move!"

Joan was no longer frightened. Sure, being grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground by a strange man in a foreign uniform had been a brutal shock, and her captors had been, not rough but very firm as they took her aboard their...whatever it was. Amongst themselves they spoke a harsh sounding, guttural language that she couldn't understand, though the one that questioned her had spoken surprisingly good Lofteganen. They had confiscated her phone, and she was shackled to a seat by one ankle, but otherwise she had been shown every courtesy short of being set free. In fact, one of the soldiers now approached with a tray of food and some sort of beverage. Joan took them and set to gratefully.

In the town of Linton, north of Altenburg, the evening shift had just taken over at municipal police headquarters, when a call came in.

"Got a missing person, boss," the dispatcher reported. "Woman named Joan Simmons went into the Linwood this morning to forage for mushrooms and didn't come back. Her husband said she had her phone with her, but she hasn't contacted him, and she doesn't answer when he calls her."

The Lieutenant in charge of the overnight shift weighed various possibilities in his mind. The sun was near the horizon; it would be dark soon. The Linwood wasn't especially hazardous, but there were deep gullies and stream beds, deadfalls, poisonous snakes, and a few brown bears, with all that implied. Or, Mrs. Simmon's could simply be lost. Or decided she wanted to disappear. Lost was the most likely thing, though.

"Well, it's too late to do anything today, but go ahead and alert the Volunteer Rescue Service and the Civil Air Patrol. They can start at first light tomorrow."

Your imaginary friend wrote:

Hello Caybow! :)

Hello, how are you?

Loftegen 2 wrote:

Take a nap! Naps are wonderful things!

I wish I could but I'm at school

Loftegen 2 wrote:

Sit at the back of the class, and your teacher might not notice. :)

Education is important. I'll just sleep earlier tonight